F-16 | The Closest I’ve Ever Been to Space

[00:00:00]It's time to get some altitude. This is where, in the same airspace as Chuck Yeager, we're going to break the sound barrier and go supersonic for the first time in my life. Beyond that, we're going to push the Viper to 50,000 ft, where we expect to see the curvature of the earth.

[00:00:17]>> So, we'll just kind of keep this slow climb going. This is actually a good direction to point.

[00:00:21]>> Cool.

[00:00:22]>> And by the time we get into the airspace where we're allowed to go supersonic, if we keep pointing this way, >> Okay.

[00:00:27]>> we'll have climbed up pretty high, and then we'll, you know, just to save some gas, we'll use the afterburner at the end.

[00:00:31]>> All right.

[00:00:32]>> Just to get up to 50, and then we'll get as fast as we can.

[00:00:35]>> Okay.

[00:00:36]Sweet.

[00:00:39]>> Yeah, this should work out pretty good.

[00:00:41]>> So, we are as high as a commercial >> Yep.

[00:00:45]>> airline would go right now.

[00:00:46]>> Yep, it's like cruising at like 30 to 40. Yep, so this is about what, yeah, an airliner would see.

[00:00:52]>> Wow.

[00:00:52]>> Normally, we cruise in like the 20s.

[00:00:55]Um, we're in a very low drag config right now. When we're carrying fuel tanks and missiles and stuff, we just can't get up this high.

[00:01:02]>> Um >> Not necessarily a bad thing, but uh, so this is about as high as we would normally cruise.

[00:01:09]>> And we've got a long way to go.

[00:01:11]>> Yep.

[00:01:17]>> [clears throat] >> 40,000 ft.

[00:01:22]>> All right, we'll level off.

[00:01:24]We're good right about here.

[00:01:37]>> [music] >> And then one thing you'll notice, so the faster you go, the faster we can go faster.

[00:01:43]>> Yeah.

[00:01:43]>> So, right now the speed's ticking up pretty slow.

[00:01:46]Uh, once we get closer, and then especially over the speed of sound, it'll tick up a lot faster.

[00:01:50]>> Got it.

[00:01:51]>> Uh, and we're limited in this configuration to 600 knots, or up this high Mach 1.6.

[00:02:02]Passing 45.

[00:02:05]>> At this altitude, we're flying deep within the stratosphere, the second layer of Earth's atmosphere. The air is incredibly thin, temperatures can plunge below -50° [music] C, and we're among the highest people on the planet. This is a realm of flight that very few people will ever experience.

[00:02:25]>> Let's see. I just forgot here, we'll just start our acceleration. So, 48,000 ft or 0.98. So, pretty much as soon as I start to descend here, yep, there's Mach 1.

[00:02:37]Oh my god.

[00:02:42]1.01, so we're supersonic.

[00:02:46]Oh my god, we did it.

[00:02:48]Yep.

[00:02:49]1.07 There's 1.1.

[00:03:11]I'm going to find 1.3.

[00:03:17]Hear a little bit of rumble. Yep. That happens sometimes just cuz you're going really fast, obviously.

[00:03:22]>> Yeah.

[00:03:23]>> No joke.

[00:03:25]Here's 1.4.

[00:03:27]>> What do we have, 1,000 mph?

[00:03:29]>> Uh, about 1.5. So, we're almost there.

[00:03:42]Here's 1.5.

[00:03:48]>> [music] >> All right.

[00:03:54]All right, here we go. We're going to pull it back. That's 1.

[00:03:57]1.58.

[00:04:00]Okay, and we're going to turn for the airspace. So, here we go.

[00:04:03]All right, you ready to fly?

[00:04:04]>> Yeah, always.

[00:04:05]>> All right, you have the aircraft.

[00:04:06]>> I have the aircraft.

[00:04:08]>> So, just keep this left turn going. So, you're still supersonic, so just keep pulling.

[00:04:12]Keep pulling a little bit more.

[00:04:14]>> Okay.

[00:04:14]>> Here we go.

[00:04:14]>> Yep.

[00:04:15]>> Just about like that.

[00:04:17]We're just about now we're back to subsonic now.

[00:04:20]>> Sweet.

[00:04:21]>> With the sound barrier broken, 50,000 ft altitude target achieved, and 1,000 mph speed goal hit, it's time to try out the life-saving AGCS system, and then the most physically challenging part of this flight, pulling 9 G. Having never pulled more than 7.5 G before, I knew this would push me to the limit. But, has everything I've done over the last few years prepared me for this? We're going to find out.

[00:04:48]>> Yeah, we're actually now supersonic again, just cuz we're descending this time.

[00:04:51]Um, and then we'll just look for a place to descend. I will demo some of the AGCS stuff, and then we'll do the 9 Gs if you're feeling up to it.

[00:04:58]>> Oh, yeah. I'm well up for it.

[00:05:01]>> Hash just mentioned that that we were back supersonic, meaning we broke the sound barrier for a second time, but I was in the controls when that happened.

[00:05:09]So, somewhere over the Mojave Desert, I flew an F-16 through the sound barrier.